Can You Cover the Camera on Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses?

Smart glasses are taking off. So is the backlash against them.

Ray-Ban Meta glasses have made wearable technology remarkably normal. A camera, speakers and AI now sit inside a pair of glasses that, at a glance, can look a lot like any other Ray-Bans.

That's part of what makes them so compelling. It's also creating a new social question:

When is it appropriate to have a camera on your face?

Privacy concerns around smart glasses have become increasingly public. People have questioned what it feels like to sit across from someone wearing a camera at dinner, in a meeting or during a private conversation. Some workplaces and institutions restrict wearable recording devices or camera-equipped smart glasses altogether.

Those concerns shouldn't be dismissed.

Neither should the technology.

I wear Meta glasses. I love being able to capture moments with my kids without taking out my phone. I love listening to music and using AI without staring at another screen.

But I also understand that there are moments when having a camera on your face can make someone else uncomfortable.

With new technology comes new etiquette.

Can you cover the camera on Ray-Ban Meta glasses?

Yes.

PaprDoll's Courtesy Wrap is a removable, reusable camera cover for compatible Ray-Ban Meta glasses. It sits across the front of the frame and covers the camera area while adding a fashion layer to the glasses.

We designed it for the moments that don't need a camera.

A meeting. A doctor's office. A classroom. Dinner with friends. A private conversation. Or simply being around someone who isn't comfortable with wearable cameras.

It's a small gesture, but that's often how etiquette works.

We silence our phones in theaters. We put them away at dinner. We close our laptops when a conversation deserves our full attention.

Smart glasses are new enough that we haven't developed all of those social cues yet.

We think we need some.

What happens when you cover the camera on Ray-Ban Meta glasses?

A physical camera cover blocks the camera's view. It does not mean the glasses themselves are turned off.

Features that don't depend on the camera may still be available depending on the glasses, settings and software.

Meta has also published device behavior regarding obstruction of the capture LED on newer generations of its AI glasses. Beginning with its second-generation AI glasses, Meta says the camera is automatically disabled when the glasses detect that the capture LED is blocked, and photos or videos cannot be taken until the light is detected as unblocked.

Device functionality can vary by model and software version and may change with future updates, so users should refer to Meta's current documentation for their particular glasses.

Courtesy Wrap isn't an off switch, and we don't describe it as a “privacy mode.”

It's a camera cover.

Privacy and courtesy aren't quite the same thing

The privacy conversation around smart glasses is important. But when my mother (and business partner) and I started thinking about this problem at PaprDoll, we kept coming back to something slightly different: courtesy.

Privacy is a much bigger technical and legal question.

Courtesy is what happens between two people.

You don't necessarily put your phone away at dinner because the person across from you thinks you're secretly recording them. You put it away because doing so communicates something.

I'm here. I'm listening. I've considered you.

With smart glasses, that social cue is harder. The technology stays on your face.

So we wanted to create a visible one.

Why PaprDoll made Courtesy Wrap

My mother and I founded PaprDoll because we believed eyewear should be treated like the rest of fashion.

We make patented, removable and reusable wraps that let people change the appearance of their glasses without changing the frame itself. When smart glasses began moving into the mainstream, they were a natural extension of that idea.

But something interesting happened as adoption grew.

The people wearing smart glasses loved what they could do.

The people around them sometimes felt differently.

Both things can be true.

Courtesy Wrap came from that tension.

It uses the same removable fashion layer we've been creating for eyewear, but this one has another function: it covers the camera.

When the moment calls for the camera, remove it. When the moment doesn't, put it back on.

Our wraps have always made your glasses more beautiful.

This one does something else, too.

A little courtesy.